UBM agrees to acquire UM Paper for up to $880,000

September 16, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

United Business Media Limited has agreed to acquire UM Paper, an information and analytical services business, from Samwell Group on behalf of RISI, UBM’s forestry and paper industry intelligence business for an initial cash consideration of $440,000 and a further performance-related consideration of up to $440,000 payable over the next two years. For regulatory reasons, the transaction will be implemented through a nominee on behalf of RISI and is subject to registration in the PRC. The transaction is expected to complete later this month.

Based in Shanghai and employing eleven staff, UM Paper provides its China-based customers with paper industry information and pricing intelligence, notably regional and historic pricing trends in paper commodities. UM Paper’s principal subscription newsletter is distributed to subscribers drawn from across the paper industry, including plant operators and converters (box and envelope makers, publishers, printers) and other professionals involved in the paper product markets. Samwell Group’s Chairlady Elaine Zhang will remain with the business as a senior advisor. The business is expected to generate revenues of approximately $300,000 in 2010.

In 2009 China became the world’s largest market for forest products and is expected to generate more than half the industry’s growth over the next 20 years. The acquisition of UM Paper is highly complementary to RISI’s existing presence in China, which is delivered by a team of 17 employees in Shanghai and Beijing. UM Paper expands RISI’s capabilities and products both on and for the China market, as well as providing an established sales and marketing network to bring RISI’s authoritative content, products and services to the Chinese market.

Mike Coffey, CEO of RISI, said:

“I am very pleased to welcome both the UM Paper team to RISI and also our new senior adviser Elaine Zhang as we look to develop our services in China. The combination of our two businesses offers terrific advantages to our customers: UM Paper customers gain access to a range of new RISI products and services, and we are able to enhance RISI’s existing product and service offering in both China and worldwide. Most importantly, UM Paper helps us toward fulfilling our ambition to become the leading information provider for the paper and board industry in China.”

China, Shanghai

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Heightened M&A activity in the Alternative Energy Global

August 19, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

In 2009, the demand for worldwide energy saw its first decline since 1982, according to a new report from IMAP. However, the combined revenue of the three major sources of alternative energy was $144.5 billion, up 15.8 percent from 2008. Government support, including stimulus packages, helped to boost the global capacity for wind by 31 percent, solar by 47 percent and biofuels by 21 percent. Additionally, for the first time in 2009, energy smart technologies such as digital energy applications, power saving appliances and electric vehicles attracted more venture capital and private equity investment than any other renewable energy technology. Although the industry faced the 2009 financial crisis in North America and Europe, its long-term growth fundamentals remain intact.

From the second quarter of 2009 through the second quarter of 2010, the industry saw 391 transactions, valued at $20.4 billion in total transaction value, up 54.8 percent in deal value versus the previous period. Solar and wind accounted for nearly 58 percent of total dollar volume for the period. In terms of country, China saw the highest transaction value of $5.4 billion with a total of 23 transactions during the last 12 months. The U.S. came in second with a transaction value of $2.6 billion from 72 transactions, followed by Spain, the Philippines and India. Among regions, Asia led with a total of 63 transactions, followed by Europe with 183, North America with 110 and the Middle East with 4.

In the future, the growth of energy demand will be largely concentrated in developing economies due to the high demand in these regions. As emerging markets rapidly expand their power generation capacity, IMAP advisers predict they will focus on wind, solar, bio and hydropower.

For more information about the The 2010 Alternative Energy Global Report go to www.imap.com

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Zynga acquires social game developer Unoh

August 13, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

Zynga has acquired Tokyo-based Unoh, one of Japan’s leading social games companies. Unoh will be part of the foundation of Zynga Japan’s mobile product efforts, which will be a joint venture between SoftBank Group and Zynga, accelerating Zynga Japan’s entry into the Japanese social gaming market.

Unoh is one of Japan’s pioneering social game companies, founded in 2001, with top hits Machitsuku!, Band Yarouyo!, and Kaizoku Chronicle. In addition to maintaining Unoh’s games on mixi, Mobage-town, and GREE, Zynga Japan will also localize Zynga games and develop new games targeted at the Japanese market.

“Zynga is delighted to welcome the Unoh team, one of the pioneer Japanese social game developers, to the Zynga family,” said Mark Pincus, CEO and Founder, Zynga. “The have a great track record of producing innovative, successful games are a complement to the top-notch team we have already begun to assemble in Japan.”

“We’re very excited to join Zynga to help extend its reach to Japanese consumers,” said Shintaro Yamada, founder and CEO, Unoh. “We’re looking forward to being an integral part of Zynga Japan’s leadership and growth, and are happy to support bringing the best social games to Japan’s cutting edge mobile and web technologies.”

Yamada will help lead Zynga Japan’s mobile efforts.

Zynga is the world’s largest social game developer. More than 230 million monthly active users play Zynga’s games include FarmVille, Treasure Isle, Zynga Poker, Mafia Wars, YoVille, Café World, FishVille, PetVille and FrontierVille. Zynga games are available on Facebook, MySpace and the iPhone. 

Location: USA, San Francisco, CA & Japan, Tokyo

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WPP Digital takes stake in digital advertising measurement firm in China

August 13, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

WPP Digital, the digital investment arm of WPP, announces that it has acquired a minority stake in Leading Smart Holdings Limited (“Leading Smart”),  which has a controlling interest in the parent company of Moment Systems, the leading digital advertising measurement company in China. Moment Systems was founded in 2006 in Beijing and currently employs 90 people.

WPP has invested in a series A preferred share round in Leading Smart alongside Redpoint Ventures.

This investment continues WPP’s strategy of developing its services in fast-growing markets and sectors and strengthening its capabilities in digital media. Greater China – a region WPP has been committed to for over 20 years – remains one of the fastest growth markets for WPP. The Group currently employs almost 12,000 people across Greater China, underlining its strong leadership position in the region – as in Asia overall – across all communications services.

Location: China, Beijing

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UBM acquires Children-Baby-Maternity Products Expo in China and related assets

August 13, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

United Business Media has acquired the Shanghai International Children-Baby-Maternity Products Expo (CBME) and related businesses on behalf of its UBM Asia division to enter China’s fast-growing baby products market.

Launched in 2001, this annual exhibition is aimed at international and domestic manufacturers and distributors of child and baby products for the Chinese market. This year’s show took place from 22-24 July, hosting over 850 exhibitors in 69,000 square metres of gross exhibition space. Attendees included retailers, agents, distributors, purchasing agents, investors and media agencies.

In addition to the main business-to-business tradeshow, UBM is also acquiring two smaller complementary business-to-consumer child and baby products fairs in Guangzhou and Beijing.

The business employs 59 staff at its Hangzhou office and is expected to generate approximately US$6.5m in revenue this year. The Chinese children and baby market represents an attractive sector for UBM, with strong growth potential underpinned by current economic and demographic trends.

Jime Essink, President & CEO of UBM Asia, said: “We are entering a dynamic new sector through the acquisition of this established and profitable platform. By applying our knowledge of best practice in events, online and print, we look forward to developing these businesses further for the benefit of our customers, as well as driving growth as this exciting market continues to expand. We are also excited about working closely with the experienced and professional team at CBME.”

Location: Hong Kong

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Rakuten completes acquisition of Buy.com

August 13, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

Japanese Internet company Rakuten, has closed an all-cash sales transaction to acquire Buy.com.

Buy.com will continue its mission of being a destination site that stands for the best of online shopping as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Rakuten, and will remain headquartered in Aliso Viejo, Calif. Rakuten will retain Buy.com’s executive management team and staff.

Buy.com is a retail marketplace with around 14 million customers. Buy.com was founded in June 1997.

In Japan, Rakuten has approximately 64 million registered members and sales in 2009 totaled US$3.2 billion. Its core business “Rakuten Ichiba” is Japan’s largest Internet shopping mall. In addition to its Internet shopping mall, Rakuten, which has more than 6,000 employees, is engaged in other Internet businesses such as travel agency and financial services.

Location: USA, Aliso, CA

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Publicis Groupe acquires G4 in China

July 12, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

Publicis Groupe has acquired G4, a Bejing-based full-service advertising agency. Effective immediately, the agency will rebrand as Publicis G4, and will be joined by the Publicis Beijing Nestle team to service Nestle throughout Greater China.

Current G4 Managing Director, Laurent Beloeuvre, will head the new entity, and will have the additional role of Greater China Director on the Nestle account.

Launched in 2009, G4 with 28 advertising professionals offers design and creative expertise, event management and consulting for Nestle in China.

China has one of the most dynamic and fastest-growing advertising markets in the world. According to ZenithOptimedia forecasts (March 2010), the Chinese ad market is expected to grow by 11.5% in 2010. Publicis Groupe is present in China through all of its global networks. The Groupe employs more than 3,700 professionals throughout more than 50 cities (including Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, and Guangzhou).

Location: France, Paris & China, Beijing

Ref: F231109-491

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SearchMedia acquires Zhejiang Continental Advertising

June 29, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

SearchMedia Holdings, one of China’s leading nationwide multi-platform media companies, has completed its acquisition of Zhejiang Continental Advertising in a combination cash and stock transaction. The stock component of the transaction is expected to be payable in 2012, based on Continental’s 2011 financial performance and the Company’s stock price prior to issuance.

Based in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, Continental is a profitable billboard company which has over 10 years of operating history. Continental maintains a leading market position in Hangzhou, operating billboards in key locations including the central business district and at the Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport.

Speaking about the acquisition, Paul Conway, Chief Executive Officer of SearchMedia, stated, “We believe the acquisition of Continental enhances the attractiveness of our outdoor media portfolio specifically in Zhejiang province. Hangzhou, the capital city of Zhejiang province, is ranked eighth in terms of city-level GDP nationwide and has a population of approximately 8 million people in addition to being one of the most popular tourist destinations in China.

“In addition to the important strategic market opportunity presented by this acquisition in Hangzhou, SearchMedia will benefit from the managerial experience of Mr. Li Xiaoying, the founder and general manager of Continental. Mr. Li has over 20 years experience in the advertising industry and will remain as the General Manager of our new SearchMedia subsidiary.

“We believe this acquisition gives us greater ability to pursue additional concession opportunities within an attractive market. We continue to execute the company’s growth strategy of building a leading nationwide advertising company and we have already begun to cross-sell Continental’s billboards within our network,” concluded Mr. Conway.

Location: China, Shanghai

Ref: F231109-519

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PR Newswire acquires CORPORATE360

June 29, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

PR Newswire, a subsidiary of United Business Media, has acquired CORPORATE360, a Hong Kong-based corporate communications solution provider specializing in multimedia and rich-media services for the Asia-Pacific region. 

Founded in May 2009, CORPORATE360 has established itself as one of the fastest growing providers of rich-media corporate communications solutions and digital information tools in the Greater China and Asia-Pacific region. In acquiring CORPORATE360, PR Newswire will immediately bolster its Asia-based communications services by adding a technology and commercial platform developed specifically for delivering multimedia and investor relations offerings for the local markets. CORPORATE360’s co-founders, Desmond Tso and Dickson Ngai, have joined PR Newswire Asia’s Hong Kong operations in conjunction with the acquisition.

“Since 1999 when PR Newswire first introduced its information distribution services in Hong Kong, we have viewed the Asia-Pacific region as a key growth area and a prime market for our entire suite of communications tools,” remarked Dan Ye, chief financial officer and director of business development, PR Newswire Asia. “The acquisition of CORPORATE360, along with the welcomed addition of Desmond and Dickson, allow for numerous synergies with PR Newswire Asia’s current offerings, providing greater opportunities to equip customers with a more robust communication toolkit that includes webcasting, event management, and multimedia production and distribution services.”

The integration of CORPORATE360’s rich-media and digital delivery solutions with PR Newswire Asia’s integrated communications platform will provide companies throughout the Asia-Pacific region with an unparalleled suite of communications services for maximizing exposure to investors, media and consumers. PR Newswire Asia is currently the only information distribution services provider in the industry with round-the-clock operations in the Greater China region and throughout Asia. Among its core offerings, PR Newswire Asia provides press release distribution, audience targeting, media monitoring, IR website hosting, and multimedia production and distribution.

“Throughout our history, CORPORATE360 has been committed to providing enterprise customers with the most compelling technology and expertise in media delivery solutions,” commented Desmond Tso, founder and managing director, CORPORATE360. “We are extremely excited to become a part of PR Newswire Asia, which shares a similar passion and dedication to the Asia market.  We look forward to leveraging PR Newswire’s position as the most highly regarded business communications service in the region.”

Location: Hong Kong

Ref: F231109-517

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Yahoo! buys Koprol

May 25, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

Yahoo!  has acquired Koprol. Koprol, a company headquartered in Jakarta, Indonesia, allows people to connect and share photos, reviews and additional information about locations in real-time using just their mobile phone browser, making the service accessible to a larger percentage of mobile users. Once on Koprol, people can “check-in” to their current location and see where others are and what they are doing. The service helps people find local businesses, such as popular shops or restaurants, based on user ratings including a “thumbs-up” feature to elevate favorite places to the top of the ranking. Users can also start or join discussions based on particular locations and invite friends to participate, creating a unique city-based social mobile community resource.

Yahoo! will continue to invest in evolving Koprol’s service, such as the newly introduced BlackBerry application, and expects to announce new mobile applications for both local and global mobile platforms in the future.

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Location: USA, Sunnyvale, CA & Indonesia, Jakarta

Ref: F231109-464

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